Witnesses to be held secret at Guantanamo trial
WASHINGTON (AFP) — A US military judge has reportedly ordered that the identity of witnesses that will testify against a Canadian national, who may face a military war-on-terror trial next year be kept secret.
Omar Khadr was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 and held on suspicion of belonging to the Al-Qaeda terror network. He is charged with killing a US soldier with a grenade when he was being arrested.
Khadr's defense attorneys say he is a child soldier and illegally imprisoned.
The military judge handling the case, Colonel Peter Brownback, dismissed all charges against Khadr in June on grounds that his designation as an "enemy combatant" did not meet the standard required for trial by military commission.
But a military review court rejected the ruling on October 2.
Citing newly released documents, The New York Times said the decision rendered by Judge Brownback on October 15 was sought by military prosecutors who want to keep the names of witnesses secret in other military commission cases.
The judge's order was issued without public disclosure, the report said.
Defense lawyers say the order would hamper their ability to defend their clients because they cannot question their clients or anyone else about the witnesses to determine the veracity of the witnesses' testimony, The Times pointed reported.
